Asia, India—Garhwal, Trisul

Trisul. Our four-man expedition ascended the Nandakini River to establish Base Camp at 4300 meters on September 17. We placed Camps I and II at 5150 and 5850 meters on September 19 and 24, despite the illness of two of our members. Between Camps I and II we ascended the heavily crevassed Ronti Glacier to reach the west ridge, first climbed by Slovenes in 1976. The ridge rises from between 50° to 60° and we originally wanted to fix rope, but time was too short. Leader Markus Schnitzler and I climbed this crux and placed Camp III at 6420 meters where the ridge flattened. The next day, September 27, we climbed the endless corniced ridge to the summit (7120 meters, 23,360 feet).